Domestic Technicians

Decorating your home doesn’t have to cost you a small fortune. There are many ways to decorate your home on a budget, and still have it look like it was decorated by an interior designer. Save money on decorating by doing it yourself and doing it frugally.

When it comes to decorating, there are no rules to follow. You know what your like and what your tastes are. Decorate according to what looks good to you. After all, you are the one living in the home and you want it to look pleasant to your eyes.

Decorate one room at a time. Decide what you want the room to look like. Is there a focal point in the room, such as the dining table? Decorate around that, making the dining table the main attraction. If the best feature in a room is a fireplace, use the fireplace as the main center point of the room.

Give each room a theme. Decide on colors, textures, and styles. You might want dual colors on walls and a country theme in one bedroom, while the kitchen might be more traditional. Adding floral swags over doorways gives a room vibrant color and a look of freshness.

One of the most fun ways to look for decorating ideas on a budget is to look through magazines and online. When you see something that catches your eye, such as a particular decorating scheme or decorative item, save or print the page.

Instead of spending a load of money on decorating items, look for bargains, sales, and discounts. Area rugs, lamps, occasional tables, lighting, paints, wall decor, tapestries, plants, greenery, furniture, and paintings are just some ideas to decorate with that you can find at bargains prices. Estate sales can produce some lovely items at a huge savings.

Give old furniture a new life. Painting, refinishing, or new upholstery gives older furniture a new look and leaves your room with a freshly decorated appearance, plus it saves money by not buying new items. Furniture found at flea markets can be made to look like new by giving it some decorative touches, such as stenciling or tole painting.

You can give your kitchen a fresh new look by painting the cabinets or adding new cabinet door knobs is one idea. Add a chair guard rail to the wall, or a line of border across a wall. Simply replacing hand towels and oven mitts, adding a table runner or center piece to the dining table also makes a difference in the appearance of the kitchen.

Bathrooms can be decorated frugally by adding a new shower curtain, bringing decorative soaps and candles to the bathroom, adding colorful new towels, or replacing bath mats. If you have large mirrors, placing decorative floral swags around the mirrors adds a touch of color.

Refresh dull window treatments with a fresh fabric swag. These are very inexpensive and they make an easy way to decorate the windows in your home. You can also change the appearance of the current drapes by simply adding tiebacks to the drapes, and having the drapes tied open in a different manner than usual.Adding inexpensive mini-blinds or sheers is another option.

There are countless ways to decorate on a budget. Simply refreshing current items in your home, giving them a new look, saves money. Shopping for decorative items from estate sales and looking for bargains and discounts can save you a lot of money on decorating costs. Adding small touches to rooms can give the rooms an entirely new fresh look.

Remember that you know what you like so decorate in a manner that is pleasing to you. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a nicely decorated home.

Long before store shelves were lined with various cleaning products, there was vinegar. Women used vinegar to clean in a number of ways. Rather than spend loads of money on different types of cleaners, you can save money by using vinegar to clean.

Make your own window cleaner with vinegar and water. You can save a lot of money doing this instead of buying commercial window cleaning products like Windex. Adding one third cup of vinegar to a quart of water in an empty spray bottle will leave your windows sparkling when used to clean the windows and mirrors. Add a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol to help dry faster.

Do you have copper plated bottoms on your pots and pans? Copper bottom cookware tarnishes quickly with use. To clean the tarnish frugally, use a mixture of vinegar and salt to form a paste and scrub the copper area.

Adding a cup of vinegar to a gallon pail of soapy mop water will keep your no wax floors nice and clean with that added shine. Mopping with this solution saves money by not buying floor cleaning products.

If you have a whirlpool tub, you know how the water jets can get icky and gunky after time. To prevent this buildup, pour a one gallon bottle of vinegar into the rub filled with water and run it. If you use the whirlpool tub often, you will want to do this about once a month at least. The vinegar will help remove the soap scum and buildup in the water jets.

Vinegar cuts grease. Use either a mixture of water and vinegar or straight vinegar to clean range tops and venting hoods, cabinet doors near the stove, and greasy dishes from fried foods, etc. Vinegar works great to cut the grease on items like electric griddles before washing them.

Coffee makers usually end up stained with coffee strains after a lot of usage. You can clean the stains away with vinegar by filling the water reservoir with vinegar and then running the pot as you normally would (without the coffee ground), then rerun it with clean water two times after the vinegar is used. Your coffee pot should be spotless again.

Vinegar will get rid of hard water stains. Soak paper towels or washcloths in vinegar and place over the hard water stains that need to be cleaned. Leave these in place either overnight or for several hours. After the time has passed, remove the paper towels or washcloths. The area should wipe clean.

You can clean your microwave without purchasing cleaning products for it. Put a bowl of water with a tablespoon of vinegar in the microwave and turn it on for about four minutes, bringing the water to a boil. Leave it for a few moments. The steam from the water will soften any cooked on residue and you will be able to wipe the microwave clean.

These are tips that the entire family can and should use. All family members living in the home should help take care of the home they live in. Almost everyone can do something, even small children. There is NO reason why Mom should clean up behind herself and everyone else too!

After all, if everyone is partaking of the blessings of the home to live in, everyone should help take care of it. While no one will change overnight, incorporating these tips into your daily life will soon make new and neater habits for even the messiest of the messies.

If you make a mess, clean it up immediately. Don’t say you will get it after a while, do it now. Once you walk away from it, chances are that you won’t go back to it. Make a habit of cleaning up as you go! This saves time and keeps the home clean and organized. Washing dishes as you cook works great if you don’t want a pile after the meal, fold and put away the laundry as soon as it’s done, and have the kids put away toys they are done with before they take more out.

If you use it, put it back where it belongs. Don’t wait until later, do it immediately! Again, once you leave it, chances are you won’t go back to it, and whatever you used will not be put away. Have family members learn to put things where they belong when they are done with the item.

Have a place where things live. Everything has a home! Instead of just laying something down anyplace, always put it where it belongs. If you make a habit of putting things up THEN, and having the family do the same, it will become a habit to automatically put things away in the correct place.

Never go to bed with a dirty kitchen. Even if you don’t do dishes right after a meal (I don’t), make sure the kitchen is clean before bed. If the kitchen is clean and someone decides on a snack after, have them clean up anything they mess up. Wipe the counters, the stove, and the table, and make sure the sink is empty and clean.

Bathrooms should always be clean! Keep Clorox Wipes in the bathroom so that anyone can use them immediately if needed. These are great for cleanups!

Donate unwanted items. When you are cleaning out, have a bag or box for items no longer needed or used. Donate them, sell them, but get rid of them! There’s no greater clutter than things we don’t have need for. Clothes that we no longer wear, toys the children are too old for, books we have read and that just sit on shelves. Whatever is in your home that’s not needed, get rid of it as you clean. When you put items no needed or used in that bag or box, make a note to have the items out of your home no later than seven days from the date you packed them. Don’t just move the clutter, get rid of it!

Set aside time to clean daily. If your home is really cluttered, make yourself start the cleaning process by taking at least 15 minutes a day to clean it. It’s a great thought to try and clean the entire house at once, and if you can do that, great!But for the person that cannot do that, make it a goal to start at 15 minutes and work on up to more as you go in the following days. Start with the kitchen and bathroom. These are two rooms that should always be clean and sanitary. Make it a goal to clean those two rooms and keep them clean. Then work on the rest of the home. Once you have a room clean and organized, KEEP it clean and organized!

Each of these tips are attainable! While everyone is different and works at a different pace, at the same time, everyone can do this! It cannot be stressed enough that ALL members living in the home should do their part. There is no excuse for anyone to not help out unless they are physically or mentally unable to do so. Even a baby that crawls at six months can be taught to begin put their toy into the toy box. Get everyone involved and get organized!

It’s happened to the best of us. We go shopping, searching for those delightful goodies to add new life to rooms. Of course, everything has to match. We find absolutely perfect items, and are sure the colors are perfect.We are confident in our selections, ready to add that special touch to every room in the house. Then the unthinkable happens. You arrive home, unload your treasures, only to discover the newly bought items don’t match your colors in the home.

How could this have been prevented? There’s a rather simple solution to be positive that will not occur again. You need a Fabric And Paint Chip Notebook.

A Fabric And Paint Chip Notebook is easy and fairly quick to make, then keep updated. It holds samples of the colors throughout your home, such as walls and ceilings, curtains and drapes, linens, etc.

There’s more than one way to make one of these, and it doesn’t have to be in a notebook. You can change it to fit your particular likes and needs.

What To Do

First, you will need a small purse or pocket size spiral notebook, small blank 3 x 5 index cards cut in half or heavier stock paper, cut in small squares, a small paint brush, and something such as newspaper to paint on.

When you paint a room, before beginning the room, take a half of the 3 x 5 index card or square of stock paper, and paint one side of it with the paint you are about to use for the room. Make sure your surface is covered with the newspaper to prevent an accident. Allow this to dry. The reason I like to paint the sample first is that if I wait until after painting the room, I might run out of paint, or forget to make the sample.

Do this for each room or part of a room that you paint, each time, unless it is the exact same color. Once the sample is dry, tape or glue it into the notebook, and on the same page, write the paint color name, type of paint, such as latex or oil based, and the room or room area it was used on.

Fabrics can be done in the same manner. When you buy new drapes, for example, it is often hard to match colors. It doesn’t have to be difficult. Curtains and drapes usually have huge hems. You can carefully use sharp scissors, turn the curtain over to expose the hem area, and cut a small spot to place in your notebook. It is important not to cut through, of course. This also works well for some bed linens, but not always. If there is not enough of a hem to take a sample without it being obvious, I opt for no sample rather than ruining the piece.

While this might bother some, cutting a small area of their drapes and linens, it’s a nice idea when it comes to shopping for those matching colors, plus it saves many repeated and unnecessary trips back to the store for returns.

Wall paper samples are the easiest and most convenient to place in the notebook. Simply cut a small sample of the wall paper, place it in the notebook, and make a note of the name of it, perhaps even the place of purchase, and the room or room areas it’s located in.

Perhaps you’d like to buy color coordinated items to match wall decor. Some items, such as a painting, cannot have a sample taken from it to place in your Fabric And Paint Chip Notebook. One idea is to take a photo of the object with a digital camera, in good lighting, so that the finished photo’s colors match that of the actual object. You might print this off on good photo paper and add to your notebook, or keep with it.

Decorating the home can cause frustration to take the place of what should be a fun and exciting time. Don’t let mismatched colors bring you to the point of gloom and despair. Try making your own Fabric and Paint Chip Notebook.

Cats in general do not need to be bathed. But there will inevitably be times that your pet cat will need some help with a bath. Bathing a cat can be a fearful thing, but with these helpful tips, you are sure to survive giving your pet cat a bath. Mother cats teach their kittens early on to bathe and clean themselves. Cats primp and groom themselves throughout the day, keeping their coats clean. It’s rare that a cat owner will need to bathe their cat. But circumstances might arise that call for bathing, such as sickness or fleas, getting dirty from being outside, skin irritations, etc.

Most cats will naturally heavily resist a bath and getting into water. This is where the battle of wills from the cat owner and cat meets the need for the cat owner to survive and keep their body intact. Being prepared ahead of time will help both you and your cat to live over the bathing process.

Decide where you will bathe your cat. Ideally, you will want to use the bathroom because it’s a small area and you can close the door to prevent the cat from escaping as you seek to bathe it. The kitchen sink is not a good idea unless it has doors that you close to keep the cat in the room.

Run the water into the sink or tub ahead of time, making sure the water is nice and warm. Putting a cat into cold water will not be a good thing, and neither do you want to put the cat into water that’s too hot. Test the water as soon as you run it, making sure it’s a comfy temperature for your pet cat. If you use the kitchen sink, remember that it will be somewhat slippery on the bottom and it might be more difficult to hold the cat. A cat that’s sliding all over the sink will be more difficult to bathe. Consider putting a folded towel in the bottom of the sink to help prevent sliding.

Get all of the supplies that you will need and have them within arms reach of where you will bathe the cat. You will need a towel, pet or baby shampoo, and something to rinse the cat with such as a cup or bowl. If you have a long haired cat and the hair is matted, you might wish to snip the matted areas away before beginning to bathe the cat.

When you have all the cat bathing supplies ready and the water is run, take the cat to the room where you will do the bathing and close the door behind you. You might need a protective towel around your hands and arms to prevent the cat from scratching you to pieces.

Ease the cat into the water. It’s normal that your pet cat will most likely begin to freak out and fight to stay out of the water. Stay calm and continue to slowly ease the cat into the water. While there are some cats that love the water, most do not like being in the water whatsoever, and the cat will struggle to stay out of the bath water.